Mosul officials defend boulevard project as activists call for cancellation

MOSUL — Officials in Nineveh governorate defended a planned 380-billion-dinar boulevard development near Mosul’s southern forests Thursday, saying the site lies outside protected green areas and will not harm existing trees, as environmental activists called for the project to be scrapped entirely.

Provincial council head Ahmed al-Hasoud said “the land is outside the forests and does not contain trees,” noting it had previously been allocated in 2009 for a Rixos hotel project before plans were withdrawn due to delays. “The project is strategic and will serve the city,” he said, adding that “the provincial council has decided that the forests are a protected natural area and will not be touched.”

Investment Commission head Midhat al-Ani said the project cost stands at 380 billion dinars with a four-year implementation period, and that authorities had studied the project for two years “to exclude planted areas and keep them outside the project.” He said “the legal position confirms the land is outside the forests and is designed as a tourist resort.”

Mosul Municipality director Mohammed al-Agha said the department “does not object to any project carried out in accordance with the law.” Omar Muneeb, chairman of MPC, the executing company, said “green spaces will make up 85% of the project,” with the development expected to “employ more than 10,000 workers during the construction phase” and attract international brands. The project will include a hotel, residential complex, walkways and fountains.

Environmental activists rejected the assurances outright. “We express our categorical rejection of any project that affects forests and green spaces under any name,” they said in a statement, describing the forests as “an environmental lung and cultural heritage that must not be compromised.” They called for “immediate suspension of any change in land use” and legal accountability for those involved, adding: “We reject addressing the housing crisis at the expense of green spaces.”

Local horticulture department sources told 964media the land covers about 136 dunams and lies adjacent to the southern forest, though officials maintain it falls outside the protected area.